Lucie swirled the untouched drink in the glass and tried to shut out the noises around her. The game, from the Mercenaries point of view had been a disaster; three straight losses as of earlier today. Now there were rumours of a new captain to be chosen for the team. Whoever it was to be she hoped it wouldn't be her. Besides they really needed a new coach more than they did captain. The current one wasn't any better than the previous one had been. She picked up her glass and walked away from the table and her teammates still discussing and arguing over the choice of captain, most of them with claims as to why they'd be the best choice.

"Is this seat taken?" she asked the sole occupant of another table in the otherwise full pub. Another cheer went up at a nearby table and Lucie winced at the loudness of it. "Did they use a sonorous charm or something?" she asked absently. It certainly sounded louder than warranted in an enclosed space.

Even though Greg was so much more comfortable with people now, he still couldn't bring himself to like bars. Even drinking was a little weird to him. His team was celebrating their win in a separate part of the bar, and once his team had drank enough, he snuck off to listen to the radio playbacks. Greg was certain that he'd be contacted for interviews the next day, but he wanted to hear what they were saying today.

It was difficult to hear, however. The Mercenaries were there, arguing loudly about their losing streak, and other groups of people were cheering and laughing. He could make out "an incredible" and his own name, but it could have been a mistake in his ears

Greg was then interrupted by a somewhat familiar voice. He looked up and saw Lucie. It had been a while since they'd last talked (maybe since she'd graduated), even though they had played against each other several times over the past three years. He had no idea what she was even doing in life. "No! Have a seat," he said, trying to be overheard by the commotion around them. "Maybe," he answered. "How have you been? It's been a long time."

Lucie gave Greg a smile in gratitude and placed her drink down on the table before sitting. He may play for a rival team, a successful rival team but they had been teammates once upon a time back before they were professional players. That reminded her of the persistent rumour regarding the new captain to be announced. Well the past and the continued boasts and arguments she could still hear across the pub.

If anything the noise was getting louder. She sipped at her drink and shrugged. "Fine. Okay." She gave him a small smile. "I'd be a little better if the Mercenaries could improve their game. Our game. I sometimes wonder why I decided to go with them rather than some other team in the League." There certainly had been a number teams with offers after she graduated. Teams who'd been outperforming the Mercenaries for years. Something to do with her track record back in Beauxbatons had made her rather popular at the time. She wondered what the other team managers thought of her now if they did at all.

Greg half-smiled. It felt a bit odd to talk to his former quidditch captain about her career. He appreciated that Lucie didn't seem to mind and spoke of the topic with some nonchalance. "What's stopping you?" he asked curiously. There had to be teams that would take Lucie. Greg hadn't caught many Mercenaries games, but no one, especially Lucie, could just lose skill over time. "I'm sure any team would be happy to have you." Not that he was very familiar with what coaches looked for in Keepers, nor whether or not any teams were looking for Keepers. But it felt right to say.

Lucie shrugged. "I really don't know. Fear perhaps? I mean I did turn down their offers so why would they want me now?" She knew she'd been performing well, saving more goals than other teams were scoring against her. That, however, counted for naught when taken into account that it wasn't the keeper who won or lost the game. It was, for the most part, the seeker. And the Mercenaries seeker was all boast and no substance. Half the team were come to that. The beaters, one chaser, and a couple of the reserves were the ones Lucie considered to be the best of the team.

She drowned the rest of the glass and placed it back on the table before speaking. "Perhaps I might begin to look around a little," she suggested tentatively. Lucie cocked her head to the side. "I think the noise appears to be dropping a little." There did appear to be a little less noise going on around her. She watched a couple of her teammates pass her and go out the door. Staggering was perhaps a better description.

Greg copied Lucie's shrug. "Understandable. But you have a lot to offer another team. It's not like you're a seeker who can't catch a snitch." He briefly thought of Isobel who only won the Quidditch Cup as a chaser. It wasn't really applicable in this situation, really. It just reminded him of Lucie for whatever reason. "What do you think your team's biggest weakness, if you don't mind me asking?"

Greg had very poor encouraging skills, but he tried his best. "Lucie, you should. You are gifted. Any team would be lucky to have you." It sounded half-hearted, but it wasn't.

Greg noticed the sound calming down, too. He was a little bit more relaxed and he could hear his radio better. He turned the dial, switching it off. "How are you, other than your team?" he asked. He knew the professional quidditch life. He barely got a break. But he had somewhat of a personal life. He had Apollo and Aidan and Isobel and Jonas, at least.

Lucie knew that Greg was right but the fear had a very strong grip on her very being. There was also still this hope deep within that somehow there would be a turn around. Perhaps a team shake-up such as they really needed which made them so much better competitors. "Their arrogance," she said automatically. "I mean some of the team seem to think that being on a professional team is enough to boast about. They don't appear to understand that hard work is part of it too." It was ever so confusing as to why they were still there if they never put in the work.

She nodded but knew in the long run she would still stick with her team if only for the few she had respect for as fellow teammates. The question was unexpected and Lucie stared at Greg for a full minute before answering. "Well I guess I'm fine. I have my own place. No brothers to make me feel freakish." She was just lonely and wasn't at all sure how to express it without embarrassment or sounding desperate.

Greg half-smiled. He knew the feeling. There were some people who were stuck up about being on the team, but he tolerated it enough. They were on the team because they deserved and earned the spot and performed accordingly. He just ignored those people. However, it annoyed him to no end when he had been at Beauxbatons. It hadn't been a problem with Feu much until they merged with Montagnard. It was like Isobel ran her team on being proud, even though they were on a losing streak. "You'd think that they'd want to be proud of a winning team. Are any of them as good as they think they are, or do they all have skill and can't bring it together?" he asked.

Greg wondered what could possibly be going through Lucie's mind in the silence. Had he made her uncomfortable? He opened his mouth to apologize just as she answered. "Oh. Sounds nice. My brother just graduated, so he's around more often," Greg commented. He had no idea where he was going with this conversation. He didn't really know what to say to her. Maybe he wasn't actually expecting a response. "I have a roommate and a half. I don't spend a lot of time at home, so it didn't make sense for me to live alone," he said, just to have something to say. He wondered if he could flag a waiter to bring him a water, but with how busy the pub was, he'd be lucky to get anyone's attention. He felt like he would probably get toilet water if he did. He'd have to confront his awkwardness.

"Oh they're good," Lucie agreed, "but talent isn't enough. You need to work hard and work hard as a team." If it weren't for the more annoying personalities on the team she would have kept tight lipped about how her team operated. What it was she believed was the reason for the number of losses being higher than the wins. She sighed and brushed her fingers through her hair. "I need a team who know how to be a team." And other than the few she mentioned earlier they were anything but a proper team.

She nodded. "So he went to Beauxbatons too?" she asked. Lucie would have asked more but she had no clue about Greg's background and her brothers were not her favourite topic of conversation. They were far better off continuing to live in Holland whilst she stayed in France. Lucie tipped her head to one side and gave his words some thought. "I grew up in a house which was crowded so I've liked having a place all of my own with no-one else around me." Only now she was beginning to feel extreme loneliness and Lucie wasn't at all sure what to do with that.

Greg nodded. "Maybe it's time for another change in leadership?" he suggested. He wasn't quite sure what Lucie would have to do to be captain of the Mercenaries, or if she was even interested (it didn't seem like it), but who better to get everyone working together?

He smiled. "Yeah. He was Nuage's Head Boy. You may have seen him at some point, but not known he was mine. We don't look alike and he's not into quidditch. He's more into music. He's a music major at the university. And I have an older sister and brother, too," Greg explained, less awkwardly. Greg would gladly talk about Jonas all day. His sister had joked that Greg was a proud football mom, but he had been really worried about his brother. He was concerned that Jonas would give up after school. But his attitude had changed after Parker had left. He had matured so much. Greg wished it hadn't hurt his brother so much in the process, but that was life.

"I always felt crowded, too. Until I came to Beauxbatons and learned just how easy I had it," he replied, trying to relate. "It was culture shock for me, honestly. I found that the solitude I wanted wasn't what I really wanted, if that makes sense. When Kayla left for New Zealand, I knew that I was going to have too much alone time, so I made new friends. And now I have Aidan, Isobel, and Apollo."

"There will be," Lucie replied, "we've already been informed there will be a change. That's partly what the arguing is about." In a way she felt like she was betraying her team but on the other hand everyone was going to find out sooner or later anyway. Besides it was the arguers she had no respect for. They were the destructive elements of her team.

Lucie frowned and shook her head. "Sorry. I wouldn't remember since I was in Feu back when I was still at Beauxbatons." Not to mention older. She had the hardest time remembering much of anything in that final year she'd been there. "Were either of them at Beauxbatons too?" she asked. Lucie couldn't begin to imagine what it'd be like to have siblings at Beauxbatons with her. Her brothers were so unmagical and feared it anyway. Neither her mother nor her grandparents reacted the way they did to her presence.

"Everything was a culture shock for me," Lucie admitted. Sharing a room for starters was vastly different from having one small space away from everyone else. "I'm not sure. I think I like solitude to be honest." She shrugged. Yet there was the loneliness now in her home which Lucie couldn't quite shake. "I don't think I'm very good at making new friends."